Toshizo Hijikata
Toshizo Hijikata is a selectable samurai in the game Era of Samurai: Code of Love. He's based on Hijikata Toshizo who's highly known for his position as the Shinsengumi's vice-commander and his strictness on regulations. Background Toshizo came from a prosperous peasant family in Edo and worked at an apothecary when he was ten years old. The owner highly praised him and told him that he should aim to be a samurai instead of living a peasant life. This made the other employees jealous of him. One day while he was bathing, a band of the employees attacked him and left a burnt mark on his back when he tried to run away. In the samurai code, a samurai would never run away from his enemy and a wound on the back was proof of that. That incident taught him that world is cruel and he’d be easily killed if he trusted the wrong person. It was then his "demon persona" was born. In his adulthood, he enrolled in the Shieikan, a dojo owned by the Kondo family that practice Tennen Rishin Ryu (a type of kenjutsu), and met Isami Kondo and a young Soji Okita. Sometime later, he joined the Roshigumi as one of the deputy leaders and then became the vice-commander of the Shinsengumi stationed in Kyoto. After the Choshu ronin burnt down your clinic, he was displeased with Isami’s decision let you stay in the compound but he found your courage and kind heart endearing to where he fell in love with you. Insight Toshizo Hijikata - Insight.jpg Appearance Toshizo has layered, neck-length blackish hair with long bangs, and slender blackish eyes. Outfits *'Normal Attire:' Toshizo wears a gray haori with circle-formed diamond patterns over an indigo kimono with a simple gray obi, white tabi socks, and zōri. *'Shinsengumi Uniform:' Along with his regular clothes, Toshizo wears a light-blue haori with the sleeves trimmed in white mountain stripes, a tasuki cord over his chest, a white headband with a small iron plate, and a katana and wakizashi tucked into his obi. *'Sleep Attire:' Toshizo wears a white yukata. Personality Toshizo presents a frightening aura but underneath his demon façade, lies a kind heart and a strong sense of justice. He can be very impatient and has little tolerance for people who are useless to him, but does acknowledge people’s achievements and rewards them for that, though he never does this directly. He’s very perceptive of his surroundings and able to easily read people. He’s extremely devoted to the Shinsengumi and dreams of achieving peace in Kyoto. He’s very strict with the other men and even you, but he’s mostly strict with himself. He never allows himself to show weakness because it will lower the soldiers’ morale; his men hold him at a high standard and he’ll do anything to protect his image. He bathes alone because he doesn’t want anyone to see the scar on his back, which is considered dishonorable as a samurai. The only people who know about it are Isami and Soji. Despite his strictness, he cares about his men and the other captains and often worries about them, though he never shows it; Soji states that he's often a worrywart. Along with being an excellent swordsman, he’s an excellent strategist for he’s very devious and cunning; one example was when he used you to gather information from the restaurant Otento about the person impersonating Soji, since they would lower their guard around a woman than an armed man. When he gives you an order, he can be very vague and won’t tell you the main reason. He's extremely proud of his Ishida medicine and claims it’s a miracle cure, though most disagree but dare not say. He often uses it on his own wounds and gives it to the soldiers whenever they’re sick or injured. He treasures the cowhide grass that grows in the courtyard for it’s the main ingredient of his medicine, and will go into a murderous rage if someone pulls it out. He likes to spend time alone gazing at the moon while drinking sake and reciting haiku. He claims his haiku isn’t very good and doesn’t like people overhearing it, though he seemed to be pleased when you complimented him. He openly admits that he likes strong-hearted and fearless women. He was impressed that you stood up to him, risked your life to save another, and even wanted to help achieve the Shinsengumi’s goal. Although he’s never seen with a woman, he doesn’t deny Soji’s claim of being a lady-killer and its hinted that he has some experience with women but given his personality, he’s too busy dealing with the Choshu and his duties as vice-commander. Although he's not very affectionate toward you in public, he's very passionate behind closed doors. He once stated that he was always misbehaving when he was a child. Although feared by the soldiers, they utterly respect him and the captains and commander respect him as well. He’s particularly close with Isami and while they are complete opposites in terms of personality, they share the same dream in achieving peace in Kyoto. He’s known Soji for a long time and share a “brotherly” relationship, however, he often gets annoyed when Soji hangs out in his room and when he brings children into the compound to play. He tends to find you annoying at times, but he does care about you and often worries about you. Summary of Routes Main Story Coming Soon... Hearts in Training Coming soon... Love's Command Coming soon... Love's Maelstrom Coming soon... Love's Rainbow Coming soon... Trivia *In real life, Toshizo was engaged to a woman named Okoto. She was introduced to him by his brother Tamejiro where he often visit her parents' shamisen shop. Despite already recruited in the Roshigumi, Toshizo intended to marry her but canceled the engagement for Kyoto was becoming more dangerous and feared that she would be in danger if she was involved with him. It's unknown what happened to her afterword. He had numerous lovers afterward but never settled down with any one of them. There were no records of him having children. **His real-life counterpart was very popular with women due to his good looks. Category:Article Stub Category:Era of Samurai: Code of Love Category:Characters Category:Toshizo Hijikata Category:Samurai Category:Swordsman Category:Historical Character Category:Voiced